An interview with FREAK SHOW author James St. James

What more can be said about uber-fabulous James St James? PLENTY if you ask the man, the myth, the legend himself. Recently I spoke to the FREAK SHOW and DISCO BLOODBATH (now published as PARTY MONSTER) author and socialite during a brief break from his current stint as guest curator of World of Wonder’s hip new storefront art gallery, currently exhibiting their successful “Warhol Dead at 21” retrospective.



Brett: Hi James, what’s going on in L.A.?
James: Oh my God there are so many cute boys here! I just had the little chat with the most beautiful Brazilian staying at a hostel down the street! He just wandered in the gallery here at World of Wonder… blah, blah, blah…
Brett: You’re always attracting new fans, admirers, stalkers. Tell me about your wackiest fan encounter~
James: (feigning mock sincerity) I have the BEST fans in the world! I can’t think of any… ha ha ha…
Brett: Careful, your southern roots are showing. So, where are you originally from?
James: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Like Billy Bloom!
Brett: Hold on now, we’ll get to that soon enough… I want to know the one thing you simply can not start your day without~
James: Masturbating to Tom Brady!
Brett: Good one, especially with all his recent hype... but I need answers to important questions, like - what cereals do you have in your cupboard?
James: Trix & Lucky Charms, and I don’t eat them with milk.
Brett: Really? Now that's interesting!
James: Yeah, yeah I just eat it dry. I’m lactose intolerant.
Brett: Oh, sorry. Do you eat Sushi?
James: I only eat California Sushi.
Brett: What’s the coolest item of clothing that you own currently?
James: I have an original Vivienne Westwood from the Sex shop in the 70’s. I’ll never be able to fit into it again as long as I live. It’s like a size zero…
Brett: Is that your most prized possession?
James: No, that would be Harvey. (His notorious paper mache March Hare)
Brett: So, what are you watching on T.V. these days?
James: Love “Gossip Girl!” Hate “Celebrity Rehab!” but I can’t stop watching it! And Jeff Conaway – he reminds me so much of Michael Alig (whining) “rub some lotion on meeeee!”
Brett: Do you ever watch cartoons?
James: Yes, “The Family Guy,” “Pinky & the Brain” & “Animaniacs.”
Brett: Do you own a giant plasma flat screen T.V?
James: No, no it’s a Zenith… and it’s old…
Brett: Remember that Missing Person’s song from the 80’s that goes "nobody walks in L.A." – so what would your dream car be?
James: Let me preface this by saying that I’m a New Yorker at heart. Cars only get me from point A to point B, and I really don’t think about them, but having said that, I like Mustangs and I love Bonneville’s, Volvos; cars that remind me of my childhood.
Brett: Those are traditional, classic American cars. Do you eat fast food?
James: I’m a Wendy’s girl. I love their Spicy Chicken Sandwiches.
Brett: What magazines do you subscribe to?
James: Vanity Fare & Soap Opera Weekly.
Brett: What projects are you currently working on currently?
James: “Freak Show” the movie. I’m talking to producers and some studios right now, but it’s all very hush, hush. I’m also working at the gallery at WoW; trying to deal with all the artists and everything, and that’s a handful! That’s a job!
Brett: Are you still involved in the club scene?
James: I’ll always be the type of person who’ll want to know what the “it” club is, who the “it” girl is, and all the new kids on the scene, but I don’t go out every night like I used to. I’m always interested in what’s happening right now, so I go to places like Hyde, Area, LAX, Les Duex, and everything here in L.A.; all the hot spots.
Brett: Like Spotlight? ~
James: (laughing) That’s hardly “the club scene” ha ha ~
Brett: Well, if anyone would know, it would be you. Speaking of scenes, how did you get involved with the Club Kids?
James: At the time I never considered myself a Club Kid. I always said I was around before the Club Kids, I’ll be around after the Club Kids… and if they want to… not mimic my style, but associate me with them, then that’s fine, but I never really aligned myself with the Club Kids until after it all ended. At that point I looked back and said; well yeah, if you say I’m a Club Kid then I’m a Club Kid, blah, blah, blah… But I never really thought of myself as a Club Kid.
Brett: Well the Club Kids certainly captured the imaginations of countless kids. Why do you think so many people continue to be so attracted to the Club Kid aesthetic?
James: When the Club Kids ended it was sort of mid 90’s, and there were a pretty depressed group of kids left on the scene. The scene was on its way to becoming a minor footnote in club history. It was basically forgotten about - over & done. People laughed at the Club Kids. It was pretty bad. It wasn’t until the whole Disco Bloodbath murder of Angel Melendez that it – um – reignited peoples passion for it, and it went out with quite a bang instead of a whimper, ya know. It was on its way to going out with a whimper and instead it ended in a pretty spectacular fashion. I also think the movie, the book and the documentary, and just the entire “legend” of Michael Alig is one of those “Sid & Nancy” type stories that catch the imaginations of kids living in Iowa; longing for something glamorous and exciting. I think people like those massive flame-outs because it’s glamorous, and you know, murder is always exciting. It’s like Fran Lebowitz once said: glamour is everything that came before you, and it’s always older than you. For her, Clark Gable is glamorous, and Brad Pitt is just a twink. She could never think of him as glamorous because he’s so much younger than she is. That’s like me. I look to Dianne Brill, Larissa and John Sex as being glamorous. They were the generation before me. I could never look to Amanda Lepore as glamorous. She’s a fabulous girl and I love her to death and she’s fun and fantastic, and you know FUN, but she’s not glamorous. I think kids look to the generation before them, like we looked to Studio 54, The Mud Club, and Andy Warhol’s Factory. Kids now look to the Rave scene and the Club Kid scenes as being fabulous, and to me that’s sort of silly, but if I was young I’d look to that too.
Brett: In your opinion, what’s the most fabulous club you’ve ever been associated with?
James: That’s hard because there are so many for so many different reasons. Like Area is glamorous to me. That’s when I first moved to New York and that’s when I got my first taste of Dianne Brill and people like that. So Area holds a special place in my heart. As does The World. That was like the height of my second peak. I had a key to the janitor’s closet and I was getting down with the homeboys every night. That was totally “It.” Later, when Michael and Keoki were doing a bunch of after-hours clubs. That scene was in the early 90’s and at the pinnacle of my drug excess. I look back at that and think how did we survive? But it was so much fun. Every night was another after-hours club, and then I’d drag everyone back to my apartment for another 3 days! It was insane! So many different types of fabulous clubs!
Brett: I’ll say the name of a club, and you give me your description. Ready? Danceteria~
James: Not as much fun for me as a lot of other people. Michael will tell you that Danceteria was his introduction to New York. I liked Danceteria, but I liked Area better.
Brett: Pyramid~
James: The Pyramid was so avant-garde. It was breathtaking and crazy, but I was never welcomed by those people. I was sort of on the outside looking in.
Brett: Mud Club~
James: Never went, never went. I remember seeing an article about it in one of my Dad’s Penthouse magazines. It was one of those things that made me want to go to New York! The article was all about Mary Tyler-Moore going out to The Mud Club, and everyone was like, Oh my God! Mary Tyler-Moore is here!
Brett: Mars~
James: Mars was… well you know Michael actually created Mars, then right before it opened Rudolf fired him, and said that the Club Kids were over, so we were never really welcomed there. It was fabulous, but it was really the first sellout of downtown.
Brett: Lotto~
James: Lotto was really fun. That was strictly Michael’s after-hours club. So much excess! I remember Leigh Bowery. That was one of those places where you could just look around the room and be shocked at how insane everybody was!
Brett: Do you think drugs are still a major part of club culture?
James: Coke has made a huge comeback, Crystal too. I mean, you can’t get away from it in this town! Drugs will always have a place in club culture.
Brett: If you had a time machine that could transport you forward or backwards in time, where would you want to go and why?
James: Well, I’d probably go into the past, but way, way into the past. I’d go to the Dark Ages. Like the period between The Roman Empire and The Middle Ages, because, like, we don’t know anything about that, and what happened then.
Brett: Aren’t you a fan of the Roaring 20’s? Or the 30’s era?
James: Well I was reincarnated from a woman named Lady Diana Manners – I really think so – and a lot of times I’ll be reading a biography and I’ll think, these people seem so familiar to me, even though it’s the first time I’ve read the book, just the way they talk and everything will seem so familiar. Did I ever tell you that when I do K I think I’m a portal? Remember that? And the dead people show me pictures of their lives.
Brett: That’s so Sylvia Brown! Hurry call Montell Williams! Ha ha!
James: I have a theory about Time Machines too, but we won’t get into that… I saw the future one time too… with drugs I go off on a little time travel... so I couldn’t just pick one time period. There’s so much out there that I’d like to go back and see. You know, this is sort of off point, but did you know that before 1950 pork tasted different? Yeah, in the 50’s they started injecting pigs with all sorts of things, and people who lived before 1950 talk about how different pork was… so, I’d like to go in time and taste the pork.
Brett: In the future, who would you like to work with?
James: Tom Brady!
Brett: Ugh, him again... he should appear in your upcoming “Freak Show” movie!
James: Ha ha ha! Yes! Oh my God! He’ll play Flip Kelly!
Brett: Speaking of the future, let’s talk a little more about the casting “Freak Show.”
James: Well, we haven’t gotten that far, but can you imagine Zac Efron with BLOND HAIR? Oh my God! I totally see it! And also Michael Angarano as Billy! Oh my God I would love for him to play Billy... Remember “Sky High?” He was the nerdy son. He was also Jack’s son in “Will & Grace.” Yeah, yeah, yeah I think he’s be fantastic! For Flip, there’s this guy on “Hannah Montana” that all the girls are crazy for… yeah he’s good.
Brett: Do you see yourself having a working relationship with Michael Alig in the future?
James: I don’t know. It would be interesting to see what the dynamic would be between the two of us, because we always used to bounce off of each other quite well. I think some sort of reality show might work on a number of levels, so who knows? I’m not opposed to it, although I would have to think really hard about it because I don’t want to do reality television, I mean, it’s not where I see myself. If I was on reality television I would be the host of something as opposed to being on something like Celebrity Rehab, or that Vh1 show with all the has-beens... The Surreal Life, I mean I’d never ever do something like that ever!
Brett: Okay, James, I have only two questions left. First, tell us something about yourself that nobody knows~
James: Um, is there anything LEFT? Something that nobody know about me? You tell me! Hmmm… what do I have a weird collection of???
Brett: You know some people have weird quirks, like dousing themselves with hand sanitizers all the time...
James: Oh, I’m actually pretty filthy.
Brett: Ha! Okay, now in 5 words or less, what’s your current outlook of life?
James: Getting better all the time.
Brett: That’s it - thanks James.
James: Wait, wait. Wait! Something nobody knows about me?? I wear women’s panties!?! Um, I’ve never had a pickle!!! You know that about me, right? I have pickle-phobia, and I don’t like condiments… you know that, right? I don’t like my food getting wet! I will not have wet things on my food! They freak ME out!

:) Brett Clement ---